'Arrow' Star David Ramsey Talks 'Emotional Blow' After Laurel's Death and the 'End of the World' Ahead!

By Leanne Aguilera 9:30 AM PDT, April 27, 2016

The CW

We can't stop crying over Black Canary.

Three weeks ago, Arrow delivered a heartbreaking blow to fans as we watched the unexpected death of Katie Cassidy's Laurel Lance. When the CW drama returns tonight, it's time to deal with the aftermath and discover how Laurel's death is going to forever change Team Arrow moving forward.

To help get you mentally prepared for tonight's emotionally gut-wrenching episode, ET recently called up Arrow star David Ramsey to get all the details on the "hole" that Laurel is leaving behind and how her death will be avenged by the end of the season.

Arrow shocked fans in the season four premiere with its deadly tease of an unmarked grave and Ramsey confessed that since then he has been worried that Diggle would be the poor soul in the Star City cemetery.

"I was thinking, 'What would hurt more and would tug at the heartstrings?' Well, the mentor. Kill the mentor," Ramsey explained to ET. "What's that going to do to Oliver? Where's that going to take him? So I was thinking that Diggle is not safe."

As a result, Ramsey was not prepared for the "emotional blow" that came with losing Cassidy's on and off screen personas. "In that death scene, every single tear was genuine," the actor recalled. "Everyone was hurt and everyone was crying. Even the crew was crying, so we had to stop filming for a little bit so people could hug."

"That was a real genuine moment," Ramsey said. "Not to say that the other [Arrow deaths] weren't, but that was very heartfelt and very difficult to get through." The Arrow star added that he'll miss Cassidy's "humor and lightness" on set.

Meanwhile, over in Star City, Laurel's absence has created a life-changing "hole" in Team Arrow -- especially with Diggle.

MORE: 'Arrow' Star Discovered the News of Laurel's Death Right Before a 'Huge' Scene!

"The level of betrayal in response to the accountability that Diggle feels is off the charts," he said. "It's going to take Diggle to a place that we haven't seen him go before. He's willing to do things to avenge her death and to right the wrong that we have not seen him go to before."

While Diggle has always been the "most well-adjusted" and "mature" member of Team Arrow, Ramsey stressed that Laurel's death is going to create an extreme role reversal between Diggle and Oliver.

"There's been a shift. Oliver has been really focused and level-headed and really concentrating on how do we get this done and how do we stop this maniac. Period. He's staying laser-focused on the mission," he said. "Diggle is rattled and making choices that he would never have made, doing things he would have never had done, so there's a role reversal here and he needs Oliver probably more than he ever has."

Looking ahead to the sure-to-be shocking Arrow finale, Ramsey teased that fans should be prepared for even more twists.

"Clearly, the end of the world is at hand," he teased. "It's Arrow, so there's the threat of bigger-than-life catastrophes that will threaten Team Arrow and will threaten the ones they love."